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COLONEL PETER A. PORTER: 



% iHcmoiial 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



THE CENTURY 



^ 



IN DECEMBER, 1864. 



By FREDERIC S. COZZENS. 



Life in him 



Could scarce be s.iid to flourish, only touchVl 
On such ,1 time us goes before the leaf, 
When all the wood stands in a mist of green. 
And nothing i)erfect.'" 



1867 



NEW YORK 
D. VAX NOSTRAND, 192 BROADAVAY 



M OC'CC LXV. 



^ .7 



^C2 



ALVORD, PRINTER. 



RESOLUTIONS, ETC. 



The Committee appointed last summer by "The 
Century,''' to draft resolutions expressive of the respect 
cherished for the memory of Colonel Peter A. Porter, 
consisted of the following gentlemen : 

John Van Buren, Daniel Huntington, 

Lewis IiUtherford, Joseph II. Ciioate, 

Charles H. Ogden, William E. Curtis, and 

A. Rodney Macdonough. 

Mr. Macdonough was chosen by them to prepare the 
resolutions, and Mr. Frederic S. Cozzens to read a paper 
upon the public life and character of Colonel Porter. 

The celebration of Mr. Bryant's birthday having been 
aj)pointed for the November meeting, it was decided to 
postpone the reports of this committee until the first 
Saturday in December. 

On the evening appointed, Mr. Frederic S. Cozzens 
read the Eulogy upon the life and services of Colonel 
Peter A. Porter ; after which, Mr. Macdonough, from the 
committee charged with that duty, presented the follow- 
ing resolutions, which were also adopted unanimously, 
and ordered to be entered upon the minutes of the Asso- 
ciation : 



Resolved, That " The Century" deplores, with deep and lasting grief, 
the death upon the battle-field of their late loved and honored asso- 
ciate, Colonel Peter A. Porter. 

Resolved, That we search the annals of this war in vain for a kinder 
heart, a brighter wit, a purer soul, inspiring a life of culture more 
finished and purposes more noble, and welcoming a more triumphant 
martyrdom of all-sacrificing patriotism. 

Resolved, That the character of Colonel Porter— tender and steadfast 
as he was in all home and friendly relations — faithful and intelligent in 
devotion to the public civil service — modest, humane, and gallant in 
the career of arras — crowning the graces and accomplishments of the 
scholar's life with the truest glories of the soldier's, and the genuine 
faith and practice of the Christian's, burnishes the bright name which 
he inherited, and stamps it high on the Golden Book of Americans 
made noble by worth and valor. 

Resolved, That the personal sorrow with which "The Century" laments 
the loss of one endeared to them by so many years of genial compan- 
ionship, is deepened by the sense that in him the Nation has lost a man 
of a type it can ill spare ; and that the years so rich in promise would 
have borne, had they matured, ripe fruits of wisdom in council and of 
courage and resource in action, priceless to his country in that new era, 
for the dawn of which he gave his hopes, his labors, and his life. 

Mr. Hoppiu's eulogy upon General Wadswortli having 
preceded that of Mr. Cozzens upon Colonel Porter, it was 
afterwards, on motion of Mr. John H. Gourlie, 

Resolved, That " The Century" presents its acknowledgments to Mr. 
Hoppin and to Mr. Cozzens, for the feeling and elegant manner in 
which they have prepared the memorials of its esteem for its late asso- 
ciates ; that the Eulogies just delivered be printed under the direction 
of the Board of Management, together with the Resolutions, the 
expense of printing to be defrayed by subscription, and that the two 
Committees be discharged, with thanks. 



Mr. President and Fellow-Members of "The Cenitry" — 

It lias been the custom of our honored Institution, 
from its beginning, to pay some brief tribute to the 
memory of its departed members, as year after year sep- 
arates name after name from its fi-aternal roll. It is a 
beautiful custom, and one peculiarly suited to this Asso- 
ciation, which, being necessarily limited in numbers, feels 
the more keenly the loss of any one who has been a part 
and agent of itself. If the qualifications of a new mem- 
ber are so closely determined, both in the Board of Ad- 
missions and by the open vote of the Club, that we may 
feel assured that there is nothing in the mind, the char- 
acter, or the career of the candidate to conflict with the 
objects of "The Century," nor to mar its harmonious 
movements in obedience to the organic law which called 
it into being, how much the more do we estimate the 
character of a member who has been for many years 
bound to us by every social tie, and endeared to us by 



6 

every quality that lends dignity and grace, even to the 
Association itself? 

At the annual meeting of next month Ave shall com- 
memorate the eighteenth anniversary of " The Century." 
A glance at its original purjjort may not be uninterest- 
ing, in connection with the subject of this discourse. On 
January 13, 1847, the first meeting was held. It was 
then "deemed expedient to form an association of gentle- 
men of the city of New York and its vicinity, engaged or 
interested in letters or the tine arts, in order to bring 
them into more frequent, friendly, and social intercourse ; 
and, at the same time, atford them opportunities of con- 
sultation in regard to the fine arts of this countr}^ — a 
subject in which all felt the deepest interest." It was 
then proposed that the Association should consist of one 
hundred members. Mr. Edgar S. Van AVinkle suggested 
that, from the number of its members, it shoidd be called 
"The Century." This happy title was adopted, and 
although we have grown out of the limits of the specified 
number embraced in the title, yet, in honor to the original 
founders, we bear the name still. 

It would be a grateful task to trace the history of 
"The Century" from its inception to the present time. 
The illustrious men, of all countries, who have found 
access to its congenial climate, speak of it in terms too 
flattering to be repeated here. Its objects have never 



been corrupted by any influences strong enough to move 
it from the broad base upon whicli it was organically 
established. When innovation attempted to change its 
purpose, it moved a little, but SAVung back into its old 
courses, as if it had been the very pendulum of con- 
servatism. For in the harmonious intercourse which 
brings together gentlemen of taste and cultivation to 
discuss subjects connected with Letters — with Sculpture 
or Painting — with Progressive Science, or those Studies 
dear to the learned professions ; in such an intellectual 
convention there is no place for petty rivalries or nar- 
row schemes. On the contrary, such an association not 
only ennobles, elevates, dignifies the social intercourse of 
its members, but its influence extends beyond the limits 
of itself; it enriches the land with its silent but pow- 
erful efforts in favor of correct taste and all the beauti- 
ful manifestations of art, and even carries into every 
action of familiar life a quiet charm, of which we are 
scarcely aware until we begin to consider from whence 
tliis influence is derived. 

Is it then surprising that witli this sweet fraternal 
feeling growing and clustering, 3 ear after year, within 
and around and about us, that Itere^ much more than 
in ordinary life, we should feel the loss we have sus- 
stained when we behold an empty space where once 
stood the animated form ; where once we met the 



8 

happy smile ; where once we responded to the joyous 
voice 1 

Is it nnmanl}^ to remember that several familiar faces 
are no longer seen at our festivals ? When the tirst 
eulogy pronounced in "The Century," over the lamented 
Seymour, was hushed, was it not "a sad but pleasing 
thought" that we had preseived the brief memorial of 
his fellowship with us 'I Was tliere not even a more 
grateful feeling that we had had the forethought to do 
so, when, only a few years afterwards, we assembled 
upon a similar occasion, to listen to a passing tribute to 
the memory of Robert Kelly, the second member "The 
Century" had lost — himself the eulogist of the first?* 

Since that time many names have been added to the 
roll of the departed. And as the mortuary record length- 
ens — for who can tell whose name shall be the next in- 
scribed upon iti — there is a pleasing consciousness that 
we, in turn, shall be remembered by those that survive 
us— at our gatherings — at our meetings for business — 
at our festivals; whenever there shall be a "Century" 



* Daniel Seymour, the first Secretary of "The Cer.tury," was a gentleman of 
the finest literary tastes and attainments. He, and Robert Kelly were fellow- 
students at Columbia College. Kelly was the more distinguished in public life 
as a leader in those benevolent institutions which have had so marked an 
influence upon our municipal historj-. Both were eminently beloved in private 
as in public life. The unobtrusive merit of the one, with the active benevolence 
of the other, formed a beautiful contrast. 



9 

assemblage, large or small — that there we shall not be 
forgotten ! 

It is scarcely necessary to recall to the minds of a 
majority of the members present, tliat onr late friend 
and associate was the only son of "that brave soldier 
(.f the War of 1812," General Peter B. Porter. It is 
due to the memory of the son that this memoir should 
also embrace a brief sketch of the fjither, particularly as 
no reliable history of the war in M'hich he bore so dis- 
tinguished a part has yet been written. 

Among the earliest of tlie pioneers in Western New 
York, were two brothers, Augustus and Peter B. Porter, 
sons of Dr. Joshua Porter, of Salisbury, Connecticut. 

This Dr. Joshua Porter, the grandfather of Peter A. 
Porter, left behind him an autobiographj^, in manuscript, 
written in his nin(4y-hrst year, from which it appears 
that he was born in AVj^iidham, Connecticut, June 26, 
1730 ; graduated at Yale College in 1752 or 1753 ; was 
educated as a physician, and removed to Salisbury, Con- 
necticut, in November, 1757. For twenty-two years he 
was a member of the Connecticut Assembl}^, and sat in 
tlie lower house durhig forty-live sessions ; was ap- 
pointed Judge of Probate in 1774, and held the office 
until 1812. In the Revolutionar}^ War he commanded a 
regiment, which was for some time stationed at the then 
important point on the Hudson, Peekskill, forming one 



10 

of the defences of the river : and he was afterwards in 
the battle of Saratoga and at the memorable surrender of 
Burgoyne, October 16, 1777. He was also a member of 
the Connecticut Convention assembled to ratify the Con- 
stitution of the United States, in 1788 ; and his vote, as 
Colonel Joshua Porter, is recorded, January 9th of that 
year, in the affirmative. 

He was esteemed to be a man of vigorous mind, even 
in extreme old age, and his life had been as active as it 
was blameless. His two sons were well educated, and 
carried with them into the western wilderness the cus- 
toms, the training, and the experience of cultivated life. 

The younger brother, Peter B. Porter, was born at 
Salisbury, Connecticut, in 1773 ; graduated at Yale Col- 
lege in 1791, and studied law with Judge Reeve, of 
Litchfield. At this time the Great Holland Purchase, as 
it was then called, and has since been known, stimulated 
the enterprising and the intrepid in all parts of the 
country. This vast tract of three millions six hundred 
thousand acres, originally purchased of the State of 
Massachusetts by Robert Morris, the great financier of 
the Revolution, and by him sold, in 1792 and 1793, to 
Hermon Le Roy, John Linklaen, Gerrit Boon, and others, 
in trust for certain capitalists in Holland, who had fur- 
nished the money, comprises the Avhole or part of the 
counties of Allegany, Wyoming, Genesee, Orleans, Cat- 



11 

tarangns, Erie, Niagara, and Chantaiiqiie. To this un- 
hroken region, "the wild h^nds of AVestern New York," 
the brothers Porter emigrated in the ^'-ear 1793. In an 
address prejiared thirty-eight years afterwards, for the 
Euglossian Society, of Geneva College, the younger 
brother speaks "of entering the interminable forests of 
the West at the German Flats, at Mohawk, Avhich was 
then the extreme verge of civilized improvements. The 
only evidences of civilized life consisted of some half- 
dozen log-huts at I'tica, and the same again at Canan- 
daigua. Besides these, there were a few miserable cabins 
sprinkled along the road, at a distance of five to ten 
miles apart, where the traveller might look, not as now, 
for comfort or for rest, but for the sheer necessities of 
continuing his journey." 

In 1795, the young jiioneer, then in his twenty-second 
year, commences the practice of law at Canandaigua ; in 
1797, he begins his official life as County Clerk for the 
county of Ontario ; in 1802, he is elected member of 
the State Legislature ; and in 1808 and 1810, is elected 
to Congress. In the latter year he removes to Black 
Rock, where he has large possessions, and in the year 
following is prominently engaged upon two of the most 
important subjects that then occupied the public mind, 
and which have ever since exercised a marked influ- 
ence, not only uj)on the interests of the State, but upon 



12 

the wliole country. The first was his appointment, by 
act of Legishitnre of the State of New York (April 8, 
1811), on a commission "for taking into consideration 
all matters relating to Inland Navigation." It is impos- 
sible to over-estimate the value of this, the greatest Board 
of Commissioners the State of New York ever selected. 
It does not lessen, in tlie eyes of an admiring posterity, 
tlie high, patriotic, and sagacious character of this Avise 
body of counsellors, when it is remembered that the^^ 
were not selected with any reference to j^ai'ty measures. 
Tlie very mention of these eminent men at once recalls 
the Empire State in its proudest days, as well as its 
most disinterested legislators. It is a pleasure to rejoeat 
their names — Gouverneur Morris, Stephen Van Rensse- 
laer, De Witt Clinton, William North, Simeon De Witt, 
Thomas Eddy, Peter B. Porter, Robert R. Livingston, 
and last, not least, Robert Fulton ! It is to this com- 
mission that we owe the policy which gave our State 
that teeming cornucopia of the West — the Erie Canal ! 

forethought shrewd ! stretch of human mind! 
geuuis born to bless, not curse mankind ! 
Tliat with proplietic skill (like him, the blest) 
Saw the ricli Canaan of the teeming West! 
And that the States their chiefest boon shonld know, 
Struck tlie bare rock, aud bade the waters flow. 
What liad the East to boast, not having this ? 
On ocean's cheek what touch like Erie's kiss ? 
Lo, the broad West his genius shall proclaim ! 
And famished Eurojje murmur Clinton's name ! 



That we owe to the inventive genius of De Witt 
Clinton the first thought of tliis great public work, tlin 
greatest tlie world has ever seen, is no less true than 
that we owe to the commission, that supported him in 
those trying days, a kindred debt of gratitude. 

In the same year (1811), but following his action 
upon this commission, Peter B. Porter filled the im- 
portant iwst, in Congress, of Chairman of the Committee 
on Foreign Relations. The Berlin and Milan decrees of 
Napoleon (the Continental Policy, as it was called), and 
the no less stringent policy of Great Britain, embraced 
in the "Orders in Council," had almost totally destroyed 
our commerce. But not only this, the free right to the 
high seas, the germ of all the policy that from that time 
to this has been dear to every American heart ; the sense 
of injustice that had already swej)t away the Tripolitan 
tribute under Preble and Decatur (as it has more recently 
the sound dues demanded by the countrymen of Hamlet) ; 
the I'ight to sail a ship, in any sea, without interference 
from any powers, save those of Divine Providence, at 
that time had begun to excite the deepest interest. Thes(^ 
subjects of international polity were somewhat compli- 
(;ated by the embargo and non-intercourse acts of our own 
country. 

All these matters being before the Committee of the 
TTouse on F<n'eio:]i P elation s, of which Peter B. Porter 



14 

was Chairman, were speedily brouglit to a point. France 
liaving repealed the Berlin and ISIilan decrees, so far as 
they concerned the United States, Great Britain demand- 
ed still higher aiithorit}^ over the high seas in rela- 
tion to the same power. In response to this the Com- 
mittee reported, through their Chairman, resolutions 
recommending the increase of the military force, the 
fitting up of Ayar vessels, the allowancing of merchant 
vessels to arm in self-defence, and such otlier measures 
as were necessary to maintain the position the United 
States had taken. 

In the records we find that the speecli of the Chair- 
man, Peter B. Porter, introducing these resolutions, 
was marked bj' " great aUilit}', firm and energetic in 
its tone, yet temperate and judicious." Tlie resolu- 
tions were adopted December 19, 1811. •• Immediately 
afterwards he resigned his seat in Congress. And al- 
though tendered a Brigadiers commission in the regular 
army, he declined it in favor of a commission from his 
own State as Quartermaster-General. From this period 
his active military life begins. ''To trace his militarj^ 
career,'' says the author of the Holland Purchase, ''from 
battle-field to battle-field, Avould b(^ to Avrite a history 
of a large portion of the war upon the Niagara fron- 
ti<'r." 

* llillreth. Vol. III., sec. 2, p. 22G. 



1-5 

It is to be regretted that we liave not a complete, 
relicible history of onr hist struggle witli England. It is, 
to be sure, ''a spotted iieldf and perhaps (to many) a 
bare exhibition of the record Avould be not j^leasing. 
There were many who objected to that war ; there was 
much legislative interference ; there were some conven- 
tions in session whose proceedings amounted to very 
little ; and perhaps some trifling with fire-arms at Detroit 
and Bladensburg ; but why should a respect for the 
feelings of a few imperfect-minded men, in some narrow 
strips and shreds of this great nation, be a barrier to a 
publication that would place in bold relief the heroic 
character of the real men of tliat time ? 

The War of 1812 was, at the same time, the shortest, 
as well as one of the most important Avars that ever 
occupied the attention of mankind. That it was brief, 
we have only to consider that the Declaration of War 
was proclaimed June 18, 1812, and that the Declaration 
of Peace was ratified at AVashington February 17, 1815 — 
say two years and eight months, save one day. That it 
Avas important, the freedom of tlie high-seas Avill Avitness. 
Tliat it destroyed the poAver of Great Britain upon those 
blue Avaters, is noAV a mattei' of history. It AA'as a battle 
fought for all mankind as to the right of a common higli- 
AvaA^ It Avas a battle for a right-of-Avaj' over a briny 
common that a modern king of Great Britain had no 



16 

more autliority to control than one of its ancient kings 
had to bid, "come no farther."* 

In tlie early part of the contest Hull's surrender at 
Detroit had turned the direction of the war to the Niagara 
frontier, as the most vulnerable point along the lines. 
As we have seen. General Porter was at this time resi- 
ding at Black Rock, where lie had large possessions. But 
his active, energetic mind did not permit him to remain 
at home during the first indications of battle. We find 
him "tAvice leading the van" in General Smj^the's unfor- 
tunate army of invasion in 1812, and his sarcastic com- 
ments uj)on this futile attempt led to a duel between him 
and his superior officer. In 1813, the British surprise 
Black Rock, and he narrowly escapes being ca])tured 
in his own house. The result of his escape is the cap- 
ture by him, in turn, of the capturers of Black Rock — 
Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop and his forces. We hear of 
him as taking an active part in the Sackett's Harbor 
expedition ; in the contemplated attack of Montreal ; in 
the attack and capture of Little York (now Toronto). 
In 1814, he joins Major-General Jacob Brown with a 
brigade of thirty -five hundred men, composed of New 
York and Pennsylvania Volunteers, with a portion of 

* The intense feeling- of this time, as well as tlie popular sentiment, is to be 
found in the brief abstract of General Porter's speech, in Hildrctlrs History of 
the United States, Second Series, Vol. III., p. 2G(), to the end of the chapter. 



17 

the Indians of the Six Nations, particiihuiy the Seneca 
tribe, headed by those notal)le warriors and orators, 
Corn-Phmter and Red- Jacket/'^ It is to be remembered 
that the Indians on the enemy's side were headed by 
the son of Joseph Brant (Thayendanagea), The mem- 
orable battle of Chippewa followed, in which Porter 
Avas an active and gallant, tliongh not snccessfnl, par- 
ticipant. General Armstrong, in his notice of the AVar 
of 1812, says: "'General Brown detached Brigadier- 
General Porter, of the New York Militia, to march 
rapidly, under coyer of an adjoining wood, and throw 
himself between the British skirmishing party and the 
main body. He succeeded in completelj^ routing the 
outposts, and was pursuing them, when he unexpectedly 
found himself in presence of the main hocly, and was 
obliged to retreat." This affair was commented upon 
with great severity by some military critics of the day ; 
great cowardice was awarded to the militia, but the 
gallant conduct of General Porter was greatly aj^plauded 
by all. In Major-General Brown's official report of 
Chippewa, he says: "By this time Porters command 
gave way and tied in every direction, notwithstanding 

* See Stone's Life of Red-Jacket, also his Life of Joseph Brant. The Latter 
contains a letter from Porter, descriptive of Brant's habits in England. It shows 
the Mohawk chief to have been a most amiable and gentlemanly person, in 
accordance with his early training (which was for the Church), notwithstanding 
his natural taste for blood. But all men have their weaknesses. 
:5 



18 

his personal gallantry and great exertion to stay the 
tiight.'" But this very body of volnnteers more than 
redeemed them selves in the battle of Lnndy's Lane and 
the sortie of Fort Erie. In the terrible conflict of Lundy' s 
Lane, when the brave Colonel Miller had carried the 
heights, and captured the key of the position, it was 
Porter's volunteers that served as the supporting force ; 
and the details of that battle furnish the evidence how 
bravel}^ they made amends for their former lack of spirit. 
A gallant officer, who was himself an actor in this battle, 
in speaking of tlie last desperate charge that decided the 
day, says: "Porter's volunteers were not excelled by 
the regulars during this charge. They were soon pre- 
cipitated, by their heroic connnander, u])on the enemj^'s 
line, which they broke and dispersed, making many 
prisoners. Tlie enemy now seemed to be effectually 
routed — the}^ disappeared. And even at Chippewa, a 
portion of these men were rallied by their commander, 
and ordered forward in pursuit of the enemy, which, by 
General Scott, were driven back from tliat hard-fouglit 
field, and decided the conflict in our favor. '"^ 

For tliese various services General Porter was com- 
misioned Major-General in the Regular Army of the 
United States. 

* Silliman's Gallop through Aiuericau Scenerj', p 255. 



19 

After Limdy's Lane, the sortie from Fort Erie forms 
the chief point of interest in the history of the war on 
the Niagara frontier. This fort had been cajitured some 
time before b}^ the Americans, had been strengthened by 
them materially, and was strongly garrisoned ; but Gen- 
eral Drummond, being heavily re-enforced, determined to 
capture it by assault, on the morning of the 15th of 
August, 1814. The repulse of the British, and the death 
of General Drummond, who was shot while exclaiming 
"Show no menyl'' after the capture of a bastion, are 
sufficiently familiar. Tlie enemy withdrew to a safe dis- 
tance for a regular siege; and, after a month's time, had 
advanced his parallels to within four hundred yards of 
the right of our lines. General Brown determined to 
attack him witliin his own defences, A rainy, foggy 
morning was selec4;ed for the enterprise. The command 
of the right wing was given to tlie brave Colonel Miller ; 
the left to General Porter. Ripley held the reserve. 
Porter's command consisted of his volunteers, Gibson's 
riflemen, and the remains of the First and Twenty-third 
Regiments of United States Lifantry. The assault was 
made with desperate fury. Porter carried a block-house 
of the eneni}', in rear of Battery No. 3, by storm ; made 
the garrison prisoners ; blew up the powder magazine ; 
and hastened to the assistance of Colonel Miller. He, in 
turn, had penetrated Batteries jSTos. 1 and 2, and, by the 



20 

aid of Porter, carried both. The result was, tliat tlie 
British advanced works being destroyed, and a large 
numl)er of prisoners captured, as well as a heavy loss 
in killed and wounded, caused the works of Drunimond 
to be abandoned. Greneral Brown, in his report, says : 
"In a close action, not exceeding an hour, one thousand 
troops of the line, and an equal number of New York 
Militia, destroyed the fruits of fifty days' labor, dimin- 
ished his effective force one thousand men, and forced 
upon him the abandonment of the siege and speedy 
retreat to Chippewa,"' And a military critic of no little 
renown, Major-General Sir William F. P. Napier, in his 
History of the War of the Peninsula, refers to it in high 
terms, as follows: "The sortie of Fort Erie was a bril- 
liant achievement ; the only instance in historv wliere a 
besieging army was entirelj^ broken up and routed by a 
single sortie." 

But this gallant action was not without severe loss 
on our side. Tlie three officers in command of the divi- 
sions under General Porter — Colonel Gibson, General 
Davis, and Lieutenant- Colonel Wood, fell mortall}^ 
wounded. General Porter himself was wounded twice 
in the sortie. An incident, characteristic of his bravery 
and presence of mind, is related by his son. As he was 
going from one part of the field to anotiiei-, during 
the engagement, attended only by his staff', he came 



21 

.uciticnly upon a iiaity of British soldiers, aliont ciglity 
in nnmber. Putting a bold face upon tlie matter, he 
went np to them, and said, "That's right, my brave 
felloAvs ! surrender; I'll take care of you," at the same 
time throwing down tlieir muskets, Avhich were jailed or 
stacked ; but they, recovering from their surprise, picked 
up their fire-arms, and no doubt would have captured 
him and his staif, but for the timely ap2:)earance of a 
body of Americans. The result was a brisk skirmish, 
in which most of the enemy were killed or made pris- 
oners. '"With the destruction of Fort Erie, and the 
removal of the troops from the Canada line, the cam- 
paign of the Army of the North, in 1814, was ended."* 
In acknowledgment of his services in this war, the city 
of NeAV York presented General Porter with the freedom 
of the city in a gold box ; the State of New York voted 
liim a sword ; and the thanks of the Congress of the 
United States, witli a gold medal, struck to commem- 
orate the successful campaign of 1814, were presented 
to the five generals who had most distinguished them- 
selves — General Brown, General Scott, General Ripley, 
General Gaines, and General Porter. In the lately pub- 
lished auto])iography of Lieutenant-General Scott tliere 
is but little mention of General Porter, in connection 

* -'Scenes in the War of 181 2."' — Harper, January, 18G4. 



22 

with the battles of Chippewa and Liindj's Lane. But 
it is not tlie custom with autobiographers to j^ermit the 
public mind to be diverted from the principal charac- 
ter, whose great deeds they are describing. Some cor- 
respondence, however, found among General Porter's 
papers, after his death, reveals the fact that his great 
services were not overlooked by the Government in 
1814. He was then appointed ^^ Coimnander in-Chief of 
the Army of the Fi'ontier f and his commission, Avith 
the papers accompanying it, are now in the possession 
of his family. But the war being speedily brought to a 
close, he declined the merited distinction, as his services 
were no longer actively required. 

But the exercise of his abilities for the public good 
did not cease with his military life. In the j^ear follow- 
ing the war (I8I0), we find him nominated by the Gov- 
ernor of the State of New York, Daniel D. Tompkins, 
for Secretary of State. "He did not solicit the appoint- 
ment," says Hammond, "his business at Black Rock, 
where he resided, rfHpiiring his personal attention ;" 
and, besides, he had been the year before re-elected to 
Congress. His appointment, however, was confirmed 
by the Council ; and as it may be interesting to know 
why, I quote the language used upon the occasion : 
"That General Peter B. Porter liad honorably distin- 
guished himself in the army on the Niagara frontier 



23 

during the war ; and, besides, Avas justly esteemed as a 
man of the first order of intellect." These Avere consid- 
ered qualifications in 1815. It does not appear, hoAv- 
ever, that even AAath this flattering commendation, he 
served as Secretary of State ; his election to Congress 
may liaA^e prevented his acceptance. In 1816 Ave still 
find him occupied Avith arduous public duties. He is 
appointed (by President Madison) Commissioner, under 
the Treaty of Clhent, to settle the boundary line betAveen 
the United States and Great Britain. 

For a time Ave lose sight of him as a public man. He 
married, late in life, Mrs. Letitia Grayson, a widoAV lady, 
and daughter of the late John Breckinridge, of Kentucky, 
formerly Attorney-General of the United States, under 
President Jefferson. The estimable character of this 
most charitable and j^ious lady, Avho died only a feAA^ 
brief years after her marriage, leaving a son and daugh- 
ter, is so Avell known that it has become a matter of 
public record, and therefore I do not transgress the limit 
of propriety in speaking of her here. 

The personal friend of Colonel Porter, as well as his 
legal adviser and executor, "^^ Avho has generously fur- 
nished me Avith the materials he had collected for a 
biographical sketch for the Buffalo Historical Society, 
says, in a letter : 

* Mr. Charles D. Norton, of Buffalo. 



24 

"I recollect lier, a Avoman of noble presence and 
imperial face and form, very gracious in lier manners, 
of wonderful capacity in tlie management of aifairs ; of a 
most benevolent and charitable disposition, slie Avas the 
friend of the friendless and the supporter and benefac- 
tress of all worthy institutions. She was renowned in 
this region for her care of the poor, and her sympathy 
for all those in circumstances either of poverty or afflic- 
tion. Her door, in the cold mornings of winter, was 
beset by her dependents, and they went away rejoicing 
in what was most necessary for them in their condition. 
At her decease, the local journals, the papers of Washing- 
ton, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, and Louisville, 
spoke of her in terms of the highest eulogy, and record- 
ed her many virtues. Her correspondence shows her to 
have been the fri(^nd of Clay, Calhoun, General Scott, 
and the most distinguished statesmen of her time ; and 
I iind letters of condolence upon her decease from Gen- 
eral Scott, Henry Cla}^, Mr. Calhoun, General Cass, Mr. 
Preston, Commodore Rodgers, and others ; all of them 
expressive of the same grief for her death, and extolling 
those remarkable graces of mind and person for which 
she was distinguished above her sex. 

"From such a mother Colonel Porter inherited many 
of Ills noblest traits of character, and it is not surprising 
that a man thus born and reared and educated should 



have been noticeable for the best gifts Avhich God vouch- 
safes to the distinguished sons of our race." 

The hist important j)osition which General Porter 
occupied in public affairs was that of Secretary of War, 
nnder the administration of John Quincy Adams, in 1828. 
It is said that this appointment was derived solely from 
the active influence of Mr. Clay, his personal friend 
and rival in debate, who fully appreciated his great 
shrewdness and sagacity. A contemporary, and one of 
the few able men that have survived this period, says, 
"that his administration Avas very able; his method 
excellent ; being himself a business man, the routine of 
his department was thorough, while his official docu- 
ments were marked with great elegance of style, as well 
as singular simplicity and clearness. He was a little 
deaf, but it was a great pleasure to sit beside him, upon 
social occasions, at table ; his manners were fascinating, 
and his conversation happy and unaffected, although 
pregnant Avith flne thoughts and observations of the 
Avorlcl."* From another source Ave learn, "that in the 
record's of legislation, in State or N'ation, there are feAV 
better specimens of eloquence than he uttered, or of 
compositions than those that came from his pen.'^f 

If I have trespassed too much upon your time, in 

* Hon. Guliau C. A'erplanck. f Holland Purchase, p. 615. 



26 

recalling these particulars, it is because a brief history 
of the career of the gallant father forms a portion, as it 
were, of the biography of his no less gallant son. We 
recognize the same traits of character in both, and the 
comparison is drawn still closer when we reflect that 
the hero that led the sortie of Fort Erie was then about 
the same age as our hero when he led the charge at the 
bloody battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia. 

Peter Augustus Porter was born at Black Rock (now 
a part of Buffalo, New Yorlv), July 14, 1827. Four years 
afterwards, in 1831, we find, b}^ the family record, that 
he becomes an orphan on the mother's side ; and in 1844, 
a few years after the GeneraFs removal to Niagara Falls, 
a great concourse assembles there to pay the last tribute 
of respect to the hero of Fort Erie and the Niagara 
frontier. At the time of the death of his father, he is 
still a mere youth, seventeen years of age. It is due to 
his memory to say, that mucli of the care of his earlier 
years devolved upon his only sister, of whom he always 
spoke in terms of the tenderest affection. 

He was prepared for college by the Rev. James Such, 
a graduate of Cambridge, an English gentleman, and an 
accomplished scholar. He entered Harvard College in 
August, 1842, in the Sophomore class ; graduated in 
August, 1845 ; visited Europe in May, 1846 ; and studied 
for some years at Heidelberg, Berlin, and Breslau, in 



Z( 



order to perfect himself in the usual accomplishments of 
a scholar and a gentleman. He returned to America in 
the spring of 1849, to take charge of liis patrimonial 
estate, ^vhich was large, and situated in the counties of 
Erie and Niagara. In 1854 he engages in the study of 
the law, at Cambridge, Massachusetts ; in September, 
1855, he again visits Europe, and returns in May, 1857. 

It would app(^ar incumbent upon me to refer here to 
his immediate ftimily relations. It is true, they form part 
of his domestic history ; but it seems to me too delicate 
a task to perform now. I shall, therefore, avoid tread- 
ing upon this sacred ground, and I am sure he would 
sanction my reticence if he were present. 

Let us, rather, turn to those matters which more 
immediately concern his connection with "The Century." 
He became a member of the Association on the 9th of 
January, 1853. 

At this time the " Journal of the Century" was in full 
vigor. The ''Journal" was a collection of papers, con- 
tributed from time to time by the members, and read at 
the monthly meetings. Mr. John H. Gourlie was then 
the chief, and I had the honor to be junior, editor. One 
evening, just preceding the monthlj^ meeting in July, 
1853, Mr. Cranch placed in my hands a MS. poem, en- 
titled "The Spirit of Beauty." It struck me then as a 
rare specimen of rhythmical art, and it possessed, besides, 



a very subtle hnmoristic quality, that rare and dangerous 
companion of delicate verse. When it was read its re- 
ception was as flattering as its merits deserved. I was 
then just acquainted with the author, and at my request 
lie permitted the j)oem to be printed in the " Kni(;ker- 
bocker" of the following month, by whose judicious 
readers it was highly relished and appreciated. In 
April, 1857, another poem from his pen, entitled "Arca- 
dia, a Medley," was read before "The Century,'' and 
at my request he allowed it to be published in "Put- 
nam's Magazine," of May. It was not the less enjoyed 
and appreciated. In 1858 he wrote the "King's Speech," 
in the great Twelfth Night festival ; and at the Twelfth 
Night festival of 1859, made the "Queen's Speech," 
both of which are preserved in the archives of ' ' The 
Century." The last contribution of Colonel Portin- to 
"The Journal" was in 1858. It was a humorous tilt 
at our ancient festivals, entitled the "Centurion's Dream." 
It was subsequently printed in the "Crayon," of Novem- 
l)er, 1860. This, like all the other productions of his 
pen, he had great misgivings for ; he did not think it 
worth publishing. I had some difficulty in changing 
his opinion, or, ijerliaps, his determination. In regard 
to these matters, he always afforded a striking and a 
pleasing contrast to many other versifiers wltli whom 
I liad tlie honor to be acquainted. Their pens were 



29 

not lodged in the racks before they were ready to fly 
into the woi-Id, to h^t that great listener know what 
tliey had done. But that great listener is as discrimi- 
nating as it is amiable ; and it has placed a few poems 
of modest merit far above the strife, the rivalry, the 
(lust, and struggles of literary aspirants, in the poetical 
arena. Let us, at least, accord to Porter that he was 
not a contestant for the laurel crown. He looked upon 
the conflict from his side-box. He had learned, from the 
teachings of his early tutor, the Rev. James Such, who 
was a most accomplished scholar in versification, the full 
value of prosody, the longs and shorts, the rhythmical 
music of the old English tongue ; and he employed his 
hn-e in compositions merely for tln^ amusement of his 
friends. 

A beautiful elegiac poem from his hand, written in 
Europe, some years ago, " Upon hearing of the early 
death of George H. Emerson, a college friend and class- 
mate," was republished in the "New York Times" of 
June 14th or loth of this year. It is full of the ten- 
derest pathos, and might properly be quoted here, if 
it did not too painfully recall the writer. In the 
"Wine Press" for April, 1860, a contribution from 
his p?n apj)ears. It purports to be a continuation of 
Macaula3''s History; but th(^ wiiter, Avith that constant 
regard for truth wliich, even in fiction or in jest. 



30 

always accompanies him, saj^s of the sketches of the 
lives of Washington and Franklin, "they pnrport to 
be sketches for a futnre volume, by Macaulay ;" but 
in the preceding paragraph he says, '-^ hut for tlieir 
aidheiiUcity I do not oouch.^'' And this he does as 
a forewarning to the cursorj^ reader, to be on his 
guard against the playful deception, wliich is so close 
to the original in style, that it might have deceived 
tlie most cultivated and the most observant of critics. 

In the ''Buffalo Commercial Advertiser" of Novem- 
ber 19th, 1864, appears a posthumous poem, entitled 
"Come nearer to me. Sister," written by Porter, when 
only nineteen years of age. It bears all the promises 
of his early genius, which afterwards ripened into 
more perfect j)i'ocluctions. I do not know of any 
American poem more tenderly pathetic than it. To any 
one competent to measure the latent and undeveloped 
powers of a highly imaginative mind — rich in treas- 
ures of learning and controlled b}^ an exquisite taste — 
these few pieces will afford a curious and interesting 
study. The humorous verses exhibit, with every chan- 
ging current of the theme, a wonderfully creative fancy, 
original in conception, delicate in expression, and almost 
as pei'fect in musical rhythm as some of the most elab- 
orate essays in versification of the present time. In the 
elegiac lines we find the same powers of imagination 



oi 

developed in language of the deepest pathos ; nervous, 
but chastened by the tenderest emotions, and elevated 
in accordance with the solemn character of the theme. 
In the imitations of Macaulay, we perceive that it is 
the style only of the late eminent historian that is 
copied. The thoughts are Porter's own ; and, clothed 
in other language, without the trick of antithetical 
rhetoric, would place his powers as an analyst of char- 
acter upon a par with those of the happiest writers of 
that class. In all things his judgment went hand in 
hand with his imagination ; his exuberant ftmcy was 
curbed by his taste ; and his erudition was only equalled 
by his modesty. 

Nor was his knowledge in art less cultivated, less 
delicate, less intelligent. He was quick to detect merit 
in the earlier works of rising artists ; totally unbiased 
by the schools ; and broad and generous in his ap- 
plause when art-critics hesitated to commend works of 
real genius. With such gifts, which, had he lived, 
would have been developed to the honor of the State 
and to the credit of the Nation, our dear friend has 
closed his career. "Colonel Porter," says Mr. Norton, 
' ' has left a mass of half-finished manuscripts ; a play 
incomplete ; a fragment of verse ; an essay here ; a poem 
there ; — if the time were not so brief between now and 
December, I wish they were in your hands, that }ou 



32 

miglit judge more accurately of his varied ability." And 
in a subsequent letter from tliis gentleman, he says : 
' ' Porter had collected all his father' s paj)e]'S and letters 
relating to the last war, with the view of writing a 
liistory of tlie campaign of 1812 ; for he was always of 
the opinion that such a history was a desideratum, 
none having been written wliich gave all the facts of 
that eventful period with the fulness and accuracy wliich 
the events demanded, and the importance of the war 
required." 

You, Mr. Pr(^sident, '* who can so fully estimate the 
meaning of tliis brief extract from a familiar letter ; you, 
who have devoted your life-long labors to the history 
of this country upon its ancient theatre ; you, who have 
done for the earlier actors of the colonies, and the revo- 
lution, what our beloved friend and associate intended 
to undertake, that Ave might have a true representation 
of the conflict which gave us the free right of the seas 
of all nations, as the earlier revolution gave us the free 
right of the lands we occupy ; you, who have so labo- 
riously built up one of the American Pyramids, can 
more truly than any other estimate the loss we have 
sustained in the younger Cephrenes. 

It is, indeed, to be regretted, that so valuable an 

* Mr. CTeoro-o Bancroft. 



33 

acquisition to onr growing libraries should have been 
lost. It is true, the " coiTesj)ondence, notes, and re- 
ports," of the elder Porter, may pass into other hands, 
and be still treasured and recorded in libraries and 
cabinets, as forming an extensive view of our last war 
with Great Britain ; but, whatever may become of them, 
it will be a source of regret to the future student, to 
think that they were left without the touch of the ani- 
mated pen that could have given them vitality, warmth, 
and coloring. In this, as in every other way, we feel 
that we have sustained a great public loss. Who shall 
till the vacant chair, or wield the graceful pen which 
fled from fingers so competent? 

The political life of Peter A. Porter was brief. Like 
his father, he was a member of the Assembly of his 
native State — elected in 1861. In March, 1862, he made 
a very spirited address to that body, in relation to a 
bill jjroviding for the public defence. He, among the 
very few, had a true idea of the magnitude of the ap- 
proaching conflict ; and even anticipating foreign inter- 
vention, in which case the Niagara frontier would have 
been, as in 1812, the assailable point, he says: "Our 
frontier should be the bulwark ; we should defend it. 
May we not hope, at all events, that the strife may be 
confined to our border ; that, using all arms and de- 
fences that may be given us b}^ the State and countiy, 



34 

we sliall confine tlie desolation to our own farms and 
fields^ and not snffer the tide of hlood to stain the pure 
waters of the Susquehanna or the rich valleys of the 
Genesee f 

At the outbreak of the war I had many ojiport unities 
of conversing with Colonel Porter, in relation to the 
aspect, civil and military, of the approaching struggle. 
His x5<->sition in regard to it was unmistakable. Con- 
nected as he was, by bii'th as well as by marriage, with 
the Breckinridges of Kentucky ; knowing, as he did, by 
constant intercourse with leading Southern men, much 
more of the policy that underlaid Southern principles 
than tlie majority of professional writers upon tlie sub- 
ject, and being well informed, by personal observation, 
of the true state of the South, both in regard to its 
strength and its weakness, his opinions were singu- 
larly valuable, and his statements singularly clear and 
reliable. 

But the position that he had taken was as firm as it 
was temperate. It was the position that became the Chris- 
tian gentleman and the patriotic soldier. And in this, as 
in every other act of his life, he lived up to liis profes- 
sions. In his letter of September 5, 1863, declining the 
nomination of Secretary of State of Ncav York, we find 
a full exposition of his views of the political aspects of 
the question. .Vnd even to those who do not adopt all 



')'} 



liis roiicliisions, tlie aniiiuis wliicli pervades ]iis political 
faith will he as dear to them as loye of country can 
inspire. I do not quote this admirabh:^ letter at h^ngth, 
because I feel sure that it will be embraced, with many 
other writings from his i^en, in some future volume. 
But I cannot avoid referring to one of his reasons for 
declining the nomination, namel}?', his immediate obliga- 
tions to his regiment, the Eighth New York Artillery. 
"I h^ft liome," he says, "in command of a regiment 
composed, mainly, of the sons of friends and neighbors, 
committed to my care. I can hardly ask for my dis- 
charge while theirs cannot be granted ; and I have a 
strong desire, if alive, to carry back those whom the 
chances of time and war shall permit to be 'present,"' and 
to 'account' in person for all." 

With this letter his political career closes. I am not 
aware that he gave any public expressitDU of his senti- 
ments afterwards ; and in his military career, he was 
carefully "reticent" of all political matters. 

In the summer of 18G2, the noble infantry regiment 
which Colon(4 Porter had raised performed garrison 
duty in the defences of Baltimore. But to a young and 
inexperienced officer the position was trying and ardu- 
ous. In the lirst place, his command was changed to 
a regiment of artillery. In a regiment of infantry the 
numerical force is, in round numl)ers, about one thou- 



36 

sand men, Avhile in a regiment of heavy artillery, it is 
from fifteen hundred to two thousand t^YO hundred, men 
and officers. It is impossible now to ascertain the 
strength of his command, for the muster-rolls are not 
open for public insjiection. But from a surmise of the 
necessary garrison of so important a post as Fort Mc- 
Henry, to estimate it at two thousand men Avould not be 
far from the truth. In the second place, his position as 
commandant of one of the most important fortifications 
on the Chesapeake, including, as it must have done, the 
garrison of Federal Hill, assailable by land or by sea — 
and, I may add, polrds that General Lee would have 
struck at, had the military genius of the North failed, 
either at Antietam or Gettysburg — to sucli a commander, 
so young in military affairs, the position must have been 
trjdng and arduous. Arduous^ to disci j)line so large a 
body of men, with such slight experience. Trying, to 
feel the contingencies that might hang upon his shoulders 
if he had to assume the defensive against Lee's army, 
flushed with victory. 

During these eventful periods of our countiy's his- 
tory, I had a few rare opportunities of seeing him in 
Baltimore and in AVashington. He spent ^lart of his 
time witli me in his brief visits to the capital. He was 
always inquiring about our personal friends ; about 
"The Century,'' in particiihir, its members, its course of 



action. Need I say to 3'ou how dear those conversations 
Avere 'I Bnt if these were int(M"rnpted by occasional visits 
of army officers, jnst from the front, tlie conversation 
toolv a teclmical tnrn. Tlien Colonel Porter was the 
anxions neophyte of military knowledge. I cannot con- 
ceive of any person paying a more absorbed attention 
to eveiy sentence that fell from tlie lips of the prominent 
actors of the great strife, and particnlarly in details, 
tlian lie. What he heard then I was satisfied was care- 
fnlly treasnred in his memory. 

Let me briefly recall here one little incident of those 
days. As commandant of the post at Fort McHenry, he 
was also the custodian of political prisoners. One day, 
while in Baltimore, I proposed to him to visit a friend 
who lived a few miles out of the city, and whose collec- 
tion of pictures was well worth seeing ; but Porter de- 
clined, and for these reasons : " I do not visit any per- 
sons in Baltimore," lie said, ''not even my own relatives. 
I might meet persons one day, socially, as friends, who, 
on the next, might be marched into the fort as captives. 
How could I receive as guests, and invite to my prison 
fare, without feelings of com]:)unction, those who had 
only a short time before received me with an abundance 
of hospitality 'i Much as I would like to go, I feel that 
it is my duty to decline." And so, with a disposi- 
tion fitted for society ; with an exquisite appreciation 



of tlie fine arts ; witli a natural longing for something 
to temper tlie austerity of garrison life, his routine ser- 
vice was preferred by him, simply because it was Ms 
duty ! 

And the fine feelings of the gentleman, as well as of 
the officer, shine forth very clearly, when, even out of 
respect for some of the possible ^Drisoners, he says, 
"How could I invite them to my prison fare, who had, 
a short time before, received me with an abundance 
of hospitality?" Knowing, as Ave now do, his feelings 
in regard to such matters, we can the more fully appre- 
ciate the meaning of the expression in his letter declining 
the nomination of Secretary of State. " We hear and 
talk almost nothing of politics," he says, "in our little 
world.^^ 

And that ''''little icoi'UV^ of bastions and parapets, of 
soldiers and prisoners, bounded, for two years, a life so 
noble, so wise, so brave, and yet so gentle. 

We can imagine, however, that there were times 
when he experienced a respite from the stifling bound- 
aries of his little Avorld : it might have been, when, in 
the cool of the evening, he took his accustomed walk to 
that famous parapet at Fort McHenry where our flag 
floated during the bombardment of the British fleet in 
1814, the sight of Avhicli produced the immortal ode 
of Francis S. Ke}^ Can we not also imagine that 



those hues of our Hag, "wliicli suggested tlie line of the 
poet, 

" In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream" — 

may have also suggested to Porter s mind the far off 
image of Niagara, with its national boAV of i)romise — in 
full glor}' reflected ! a] id that the thought might have 
reminded him too of that earlier war, in which his father 
was so gallant a participant ? 

I may as well recall here, too, another incident. Col- 
onel Porter, in the early part of his military training, 
used to have an old sergeant, a veteran of the regular 
army, at his left hand, during regimental drill ; and it 
was his custom to consult this '•^ metix moustacTie'^ upon 
knotty and technical points concerning battalion tactics. 
Porter did not scruple to speak of this fact when talking 
with more exj)erienced officers. But it sometimes hap- 
pened that the sergeant was wrong. And I remember 
when a mooted point came up, and the advice was asked 
of a feAV military proficients, who happened to be together 
in Washington, that the Coloners judgment proved to 
be better than the sergeant' s training. And 1 Avell recol- 
lect the remark of an officer, afterwards, Avho had passed 
his life in the military service. " If your friend Porter," 
said he, ''is not afraid to begin Avith a sergeant at his 
elbow, with Avhat he knows theoretically, and Avitli what 



40 

he will learn practically, he will become one of the most 
accomplished officers in the army. But," said he, "there 
are ver}^ few officers in the volunteer service who would 
dar(; to face their regiments with a sergeant as a tutor. 
It shows great firmness of character, and not a little of 
military shrewdness." 

Colonel Porter s dpsire to take an active part in the 
field kept pace with his military acquirements. It neither 
preceded nor followed them. Coupled with his ardent 
wish for more active life, was his sense of responsibility 
to his regiment. He had no thoughtless impulse that 
would lead him to squander the lives of his men in a 
fruitless field, but a strong desire to carry back those 
whom the chances, or time, or war, should permit to be 
present when the result was attained and the campaign 
was over. 

Li^t me now hastily refer to the movements of the 
Army of the Potomac which brought him into tlu^ held. 

General Grant, on the fourtli of May, 1864, at four 
o'clock in the morning, struck tents and moved upon 
his momentous campaign. The various battles that fol- 
lowed, until the left wing of the arni}^ attacked the enemy 
at Spottsylvania Court-House, are sufficiently familiar. 
But just preceding this time, such had hem the heavy 
losses sustained in our numerous battles, that the reserve 
forces in garrison were called out into the field. Burn- 



41 

side's Corps — the reserve of forty tlioiisand iiieji — liud 
been already brouglit to th(3 front in the tremendons 
oontlicts in tlie early part of May, of which tlie l:)attle of 
the Wilderness was the most trying. Hancock, Warren, 
Sedgwick, and Meade liad been hammering away with 
unexampled valor at the enemy's front, without gain- 
ing a permanent footliold. But the loss of men had 
been fearful on both sides. 

At this time there were two regiments of heavy 
artillery commanding impoi'tant points of defence on the 
Mar3'land peninsula. One Avas that of Colonel Portei-, 
at Fort McHenr}^, overlooking the harbor and the city 
of Baltimore ; the other Avas that of Colonel LeAvis O. 
Morris, at TenallytoAvn, coA^ering the approaches, on tlie 
north, to the city of Washington. These tAvo regiments 
of NeAV York Volunteer Artillery, numbering some two 
thousand men each, intrusted AAdth most important i:»osi- 
tions of defence during the war, and noAV actively called 
into the field, possess, for us, a mournful interest. These 
regiments — the Seventh and Eighth NeAA" York Artillery 
— comprised the floAA^er of the A^olunteer serA^ce of our 
State. Colonel Morris, of the Seveiith, Avas the son of 
Brevet-Major Lewis N. Morris, United States Army, Avho 
Avas killed at the storming of the heights of Montere}', in 
Mexico. Colonel Porter, of the Eighth, Avas not less 
eminent in heroic linea"e. Both officers entered the 



42 

campaign togetlier ; both were killed on the same battle- 
field. 

At the attack npon the defences of Spottsylvania 
Court-House, Colonel Porter was particularly distin- 
guished for gallant conduct. In order to animate and 
encourage his men, he fearlessl}^ rode out in the face of 
the hottest fire of the enemy. But the ordinary chances 
of battle were not the only dangers to which he was 
exposed. He was picked out. There was a crack of a 
rifie, a puff of smoke from a tree in close proximity to 
the gallant Colonel, as he rode to and fro. A few well 
directed shots from our sharpshooters tumbled a rebel 
out of the tree, and, upon examination, it was found that 
he was shot through the head. AYhen brought in, all 
wounded as he was, and questioned, his Southern bra- 
vado did not desert him. "I fired," said he, "at Colonel 
Porter out of that tree three times, and missed him eyery 
time." The men of Porter's regiment who heard him, 
would liaye killed him upon the spot Avitli their bayo- 
nets, but for the interposition of Porter. "Let him 
alone," said he. "Poor fellow, he has been punished 
enough. Take him to the rear." ''But how did you 
know," said one, ''that it Avas Colonel Porter T' "Oh, 
I knew him well enough," said the rebel. "I was a 
prisoner under him at Fort McHenrj^" 

After Hancock's gallant attack upon Spottsylyania, 



43 

the ariny, by successive marclies, moved over the Nortli 
Anna, and crossed the Pamunkey, at Ilanovertown. 
From "AVhite House''' it skirted the defences of Ricli- 
niond. on the peninsula, and found that the open ground 
which had been occupied by General McClellan, in the 
campaign of 1862, was covered by the defences of Rich- 
mond in 1864. This may explain why it is more difficult 
to capture that city now than it was two years earlier. 

B(^twe(^n the Pamunkey and James Rivers, but much 
nearer to the former, lies a place known as Cold Har- 
bor. It is no liarhor, for it is quite inland ; a rolling 
country, not entirely cleared from the primitive forest ; 
patches of pines and oaks are interspread here and 
there with Virginia farms, as well cultivated as any in 
that countiy. Cold Harbor is not a village, nor even 
a collection of farmers' houses ; it used formerlj^ to be 
a fiimous place for picnics and excursions from the 
capital of Virginia, from which it is about twelve miles 
distant. It has been suggested, that its shady coverts 
and breezy uplands gave it its original title of "Cool 
Arbor." But our worthy secretar}'"^^ says that Cold 
Harbor is a common name for many places along the 
travelled roads in England, and that it means, simply, 
" Shelter without fire."" The German origin of the name, 

"* Mr. AugustiTS R. Macdonougli. 



44 

^^ Herherge,'''' means a shelter. In this conntiy there are 
now many settlements by the English formerly so named. 
But, in a military point of view, Cold Harbor is a 
place of no little importance. Its healthy elevation 
above the swamps of the Chickahominy ; its proximity 
to Richmond ; to the James River on the south ; the 
Pamnnkey on the north ; to the Virginia Central Rail- 
road on the west, and the York and Riclnnond Rail- 
road on the east, would suggest at once to a commander 
the necessity of taking possession of it. jMore than 
tins, it is the centre of five turnpikes, that lead to all 
these important communications like the spokes of a 
wheel to its peripher}^ It is a splendid fighting coun- 
try, twice famous for obstinate and determined battles. 
Gaines' Mill, about two miles west of it, was held for 
a while during the " seven days" by General McClellan; 
. — the rebels keeping possession of Cold Harbor. In 
General Grant's campaign, two years afterwards, and 
in the same month, the positions were nearl}^ reversed — 
the rebels holding Gaines' Mill, while our attack was 
to capture the intrenchments at Cold Harl)or, wliich 
would have given us the passage of the Chickahominy. 
Two of the five roads that radiate from this point 
are crossed by another, about a mile and a half south — 
the two radii forming the sides of a triangle, of which 
the cross-road is the hypothenuse. Within this narrow 



4o 

l^atcli of oartli tlie most deadly struggle -was "waged. 
Oil the "west road the enemy's rifle-]3its and intrencli- 
ments covered the approach to Gaines' Mill. Early in 
the morning of the third of June, orders "were given to 
advance against the enemy's "works, and capture the 
point of roads. It is necessar}^ to say, here, that the 
Seventh and Eighth Ne"w York Heavy Artillery served 
as infantry in this campaign ; that these large regiments 
"W^'re brigaded "with "what remained of several infantry 
regiments, and, "with these skeleton regiments, consti- 
tuted the effective force of the attacking brigades. Col- 
onel Porter's regiment -was in General Gibbon's Divi- 
sion ; Colonel Morris, in General Barlo"w' s ; General 
Robert O. Tyler, "wlio "was chief of artillerj^ in the Penin- 
sular campaign, commanded the brigade, of "which Por- 
ter's regiment formed the most effective part. To sho"w 
the numerical , superiority of these artillery regiments, 
let me say that one of them, "with four of infantry, 
"would make a full brigade ; "while some brigades, com- 
posed entirely of infantry, required no less than t"w<^lve 
regiments. The gallant General Tyler "was severeh" 
"wounded in the action, and Porter would have suc- 
ceeded him in command on that field, had he lived.'" 



* General Hancock said that Porter would liave Ijcen promoted for g-allant 
conduct, liad lie lived. He surely would iiave well won the coveted star of a 
Brio-adier-r4eneral, and added lustre to it. 



46 

All tliese commands were in the Second Army Corps 
of General Hancock. The mere mention of the names 
of these gallant officers, and of this brave corps, will 
recall some of the most heroic achieyements of the 
war. 

At the opening of the hall. Colonel Morris, of the 
Seventh New York Artillery, carried the enemy's rifle- 
pits, captured two hnndred and sixty prisoners and 
several pieces of artillery ; but not being supported in 
time was obliged to retreat, leaving his captured guns 
in their embrasures, but carrying off his prisoners. This 
was a severe blow to us. Morris had gained the key of 
the position at the first onset, and he had been obliged 
to relinquish it. To tins point the rebel forces now con- 
verged in great numbers, and the fire here was as close 
and deadly as the opposing masses could be packed 
together. Against this fire Porter was ordered to ad- 
vance. In response to it he made a brief address to his 
officers, who were summon(^d about him, telling them, 
''that it was almost certain death, but the duty must be 
performed." Then dismounting from his horse, he called 
out to his men, "Follow me, my brave bo3's ! I will hnid 
3'ou !" and so, waving his sword, plunged into the ter- 
rible fire at the head of his command, and charged up 
to the enemy's lines. So noble and conspicuous an 
object could not ftiil to draw the fire of the rebel sharp- 



47 

sliooters, as it had at h^pottsylvaiiia.'- He fell, pierced 
by a bullet through his ueck. Struggling to his feet, he 
again waved his sword, to re-encourage his charging 
lines. Once more he fell, this time, among other fatal 
wounds, struck througli the heart. But with wonderful 
vitality, he gathered himself uj) on his hands and knees, 
and died in that position, within a few hundred feet of 
the enemy's works. For two days he lay under the 
tire of those terrible antagonists. 

We lost upon and in the vicinity of that little patch 
of earth seven thousand men, in killed and wounded. 
A newspaper reporter, in describing the conllict, says, 
'' Six hundred of the Eighth Regiment of New York 
Artillery lay stretched upon the field of battle.' 'f And 

* There was something singularly commanding and officer-like in Porter's 
appearance after he entered the service — a seriousness, a sense of responsi- 
bility, that impressed itself upon his tine features. His figure was moulded in 
Nature's best proportions ; his complexion so fair that it would have been almost 
effeminate, had not his features possessed every mark of masculine energy. His 
hair was light, his eyes gray ; his face suggested a perfect type of Saxon 
symmetry. The broad brow, the resolute chin, the delicately curved nostril, 
rivalled the best specimeus of classic sculpture. It is to be regretted that no 
cast was taken from his face. This may seem the extravagant language of a too 
partial friend, to everybody except to those who knew him. 

f What tlie loss was cannot now be ascertained. An officer on General 
Tyler's sta ft', Lieutenant Pierre Van Cortlandt, in speaking of the battle of Cold 
Harbor, said, " I never saw such fighting. One regiment went in eighteen hun- 
dred strong, and came out with only six hundred. They went right up to the 
rebel works and commenced pulling out the abatis. The Colonel was killed, the 
Major wounded." When 1 asked him what regiment it was, he said, '"the Eiglith 
New York Artillery, Colonel Porter, of Niagara Falls." 



48 

these men, witli all tlie other men from other regmients 
on both sides, rebel and Union, were, for the time, ex- 
posed to a cross-fire from either front. This is one of 
the terrible lessons of civil war I 

It belongs also to the cruel history of this war to 
state, that Porter s own consin, John C. Breckinridge, 
doubly bound to him b}^ lineage and by marriage, com- 
manded the rebel forces in this fearful conflict. 

On the night of the second day, during a rain-storm, 
five men belonging to his regiment, "the sons of his 
friends and neighbors," whom he had promised "to 
account for, if alive," determined to rescue the remains 
of their beloved commander. Tliey crawled as near to 
the enemy' s works as they dare go together ; then 
one, "holding his life in his hands," dragged himself 
through the mire to the body, ''l3ing within five rods 
of the enemy's breastworks," tied a rope to the now 
useless sword-belt, and so, crawling back to the liolloAV 
where his companions were sheltered, drcAV him within 
reach of their affectionate hands. Crouching to the 
earth with their l)ui'den, they carried it a quarter of a 
mile farther, without drawing the fire of the enemy, and 
then placing it on a stretcher, bore it three miles through 
the night to the division hospital. 

I am happy to be able to record the names of tliese 
gallant fellows : ^^ergeant Le Roy AVilliams had charge 



J 



49 

of the expedition ; the others were Galen S. Ilicks, Jolin 
Dntf, AValter Harwood, and Samuel Traviss. It would 
be a grateful task for "The Century'' to remember their 
gallant conduct by some slight memorial. Be it greater 
or less, it would not be forgotten by them." 

The body of Colonel Porter, when examined, was 
found to be pierced AYith six bullets — two through the 
neck, one through the heart, one through the abdomen, 
and one through each thigh. His remains were inclosed 
in a coarse coffin, made from the rough boards of a Vir- 
ginia farm-house, by his faithful bod^-servant, John 
Heany, who had been with him during the coui'se of the 
war. From Cold Harbor they were taken to Wliite 
House, Virginia, and there embalmed ; from thence to 
Baltimore, where they were met by a military escort, and, 
with the profoundest and most respectful observances, 
carried to the Episcopal church, in which he used to 
attend Divine service while on duty in that city. 

The rude coffin, enveloped in the dear old flag of his 

* " The Century" has acted upon this suggestion, and appointed a committee 
to prepare some suitable token, as a memorial of its aft'ection, to be presented to 
these brave men. But since this action of the Club, a new phase of the enter- 
prise has come to light. It seems that the faithful body-servant of Colonel 
Porter, who was authorized to act in such a contingency, offered a reward of one 
thousand dollars to any who would rescue his remains. These five men 
accomplished it, but would not accept the reward. '• They would not touch it," 
said mv informant. This places the action of these braves upon a still more 
conspicuous pedestal. 



60 

country, was placed in tlie chancel. The fnneral service 
was performed amid the most solemn and impressive 
silence. The Ibod}^, after remaining all night in the chan- 
cel, was re-escorted to the cars on the following morning, 
and then, in the care of friendly hands, carried towards 
his once happy home at Niagara Falls. A large con- 
course from the neighboring country attended the last 
ceremonies that closed his brief and beautiful career. 
The services at St. Peter's Church were conducted by 
Reverend Dr. Shelton, an Episcopal clergyman, who had 
before performed the same sad rites over the remains of 
his father, his mother, and his iirst wife. There was no 
military display — no ostentatious exhibition of public 
processions ; but the stores were quietly closed as a mark 
of respect, and scarcely a sound was heard in the hushed 
village except the solemn thunder of Niagara. After the 
impressive ceremonies of the Church were over, the con- 
course moved to Oakwood Cemetery, where the hero 
now rests, but not "alone in his glory." 

The proposed monument is to be a simple column of 
marble, crowned with the emblems of his faitli and his 
patriotism — the cross and the Hag. 

Fellow-members of "The Century!" in the perform- 
ance of the task allotted to me I have, thus i\ir, placed 
only a bare and barren record of dates and facts before 
you ; but even the data relating to his life are so preg- 



51 

nant witli all that is noble, Avise, self-denying, indicate 
such keenness of perception in matters of criticism, and 
j^et so generous in appreciation, that he was, with great 
gifts, so modest ; as honest in purpose as he Avas patriotic 
in principle ; and as heroic in action as he was patriotic ; 
and so — dying as nobly as he had lived — how can the 
vast storehouse of language supply epithets for a formal 
eulogy that will rival his simple narrative ? And can 
Friendship even mourn over the close of so brilliant a 
career, when he, in the very fulness of his chivalric 
nature, surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, gave up 
his life for his country upon that heroic field ? Is it for 
lis to rear the commemorative obelisk or to unveil the 
tributary urn of tears, in memory of him whose virtues 
need neither pedestal nor inscription 1 Let us rather 
turn to the more immediate relations of his blameless 
life, with which many of us are not so familiar. 

His confidential friend and legal adviser, to whom I 
owe much of this brief history, says: *'He was a man 
of the clearest perceptions in matters of business, grasp- 
ing readily the most complicated affairs ; and of sucli 
sound judgment, that his conclusions were rarely incor- 
rect." His promptness was remarkable ; he never made 
an appointment that he failed to keep. Once having de- 
cided any matter, he rarel}^ found occasion to change his 
mind. He was exceedingly conscientious in his dealings 



52 

■with others. "Let lis do right," he said ; "though the 
law gives me an advantage, I will not avail myself of it." 
In the hard times of 1857 he voluntarily reduced the 
rents of his tenants. When his mortgages Avere unpaid 
and required foreclosing, his first inquiry was, are they 
honest, worthy, working men ? If they were, or if they 
had died, leaving widows or children, he always ascer- 
tained first tlie value of the improvements upon the 
property, as well as the payments they had made upon 
it, and generally paid the one and refunded the other." 
That such a course of conduct was justified by ordinary 
pecuniary laws we cannot admit ; but his executor 
sa3's that "when his course of conduct was determined 
upon, he would take no other." His charities were like 
a rich placer, to be worked by the poor. To the friend- 
less he was a constant benefactor. He indeed fidfilled 
all the injunctions of the Apostle.* 

"But to all this was added yet another and higlier 
attribute. From his earliest boyhood, his reverence for 
sacred things was most profound and sincere. He 
spoke but little of such subjects, but his whole con- 
duct showed him to be a devoted and humble Chris- 
tian." His faith was as genuine as it was unobtrusive. 
It guided the whole course of his spotless life. To 

* 1st Coriuthians, xiii. 



tlioso who ^vpre witnesses only of Porter's intercourse 
witli the focam- spray of society ; who merely knew 
him as a j)art of that brilliant artificial life, of which 
he was, upon all occasions, so conspicuous an orna- 
ment ; to those this statement will appear almost in- 
credible. But the contact of the world did not sully 
his pure character. Like the nobler metals, his nature 
could endure the tiery trial of the furnace, and run 
clear from the dross of the crucible. It was for many 
3^ears his constant practice to acknowledge his obliga- 
tions to his Creator in humble prayer, in the midst of 
his family, and he became a member of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, in October, 1861, being confirmed 
at Geneva, by Bishop De Lancey. The last letter writ- 
ten from the front (and received after his death), con- 
tains these memorable words: "I try to think, and feel, 
and act as if each day were to be my last, so as not 
to go unprepared to God. We must Iwpe, and pra}^, 
and believe, He will preserve me. Yet His will be 
done I It is selfish to wish to be spared at the expense 
of others." 

I cannot more fitly close this brief biographical 
sketch of the earthly career of our dear departed friend, 
than by this extract from his will : 

"I, Peter Augustus Porter, being of sound mind, 
do declare this to be my last will and testament : 



54 

feeling, to its full extent, the probability that I may not 
return from the parh of duty on which I have entered. 
If it please God that it be so, I can say, with truth, that 
I have entered on the course of danger with no ambi- 
tious aspirations, nor with the idea that I am fitted by 
nature or experience to be of any important service to 
tlie Government; but in obedience to the call of duty, 
demanding every citizen to contribute what he could, in 
means, labor, or life, to sustain the Government of his 
country — a sacrifice made tlie more willingly by me when 
I consider how singularly benefited I have been by 
the institutions of the land, and that, np to this time, 
all the blessings of life have been showered upon me 
beyond Avhat falls usually to the lot of man." 

And now, fellow-members — while the accents of his 
departing words still linger in your ears — let me re- 
tire. I liave attempted to lay a garland upon his grave, 
and have brought no flowers so fresh and fragrant as 
those that were already there. I have attempted a 
eulogy, and find the voice of praise is hushed by attri- 
butes above all praise. Let me dedicate, however, these 
few leaves to his memory, for they come from what 
he prized above all earthly things — the hand and heart 
of a friend. 



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